JMFitness

The art of the flexible (and productive) morning routine

Anyone routinely following my Instagram stories in the mornings has gotten a little bit of insight into my typical morning routine.

It’s not a complicated, minute by minute schedule that explodes into chaos if a minor interruption takes place, but it’s also not totally willy nilly (or whatever the kids are saying these days) either.

I’ve found, that some sort of routine & structure, particularly in the morning, can better set yourself up for success on any given day, by allowing you to do the following:

  • Not have to put too much thought into the first ~30-60 minutes of your day after waking up (you’re just doing the same thing as yesterday..)
  • Allow yourself to do something for *you* before you have to start doing things for others (this could be meditating, going to the gym, reading the paper, writing a blog, etc.)
  • Get a head start, 100% distraction free, on whatever it is you’re worried you might not be able to accomplish later in the day, depending on how things go (meetings go long, traffic happens, etc.)

Now, here’s where this goes totally, 100% awry…

When that same type of morning routine mentioned above, becomes micromanaged.

When your routine causes you to totally flip out because you spilled your coffee and you have to take .0235 extra seconds to clean it up before grabbing your paper to read it.. you’ve taken this idea too far.

The key word here is “flexible”

Let’s allow for another, more practical (and realistic, because seriously how fast do you clean up coffee..?) example:

Many well regarded public speakers (GaryVee comes to mind) often only script out ~15 minutes or so of their 1, 2 or 3 hour keynote speeches. Crazy right? But that first 15 minutes of their speech are the most critical because it allows them to just get moving. Get started. Get comfortable.

You ever noticed how half way through a presentation or call, etc., you feel WAY better than you did in the beginning? Probably because you were unprepared, weren’t sure what tone it would take, and then, only once you found a rhythm, you felt some comfort & were able to settle in.

Waking up every day is no different. Instead of leaving your day at the mercy of unchangeable events (weather, traffic, a harsh email, etc.) try waking up 30 minutes earlier than normal. Grab some coffee, read a blog, ease into your day. You’ll be amazed with what you can accomplish in those 30 minutes, and how it’ll change your outlook on every minute afterwards.

Discover more mental fitness development tips & anecdotes.